Tag Archives: Aerosols

Why should you attend this annual event?
As we move into August, with Autumn just around the corner, we are very pleased to be turning our attention to the upcoming BAMA Forum and Awards in October. Already, we’ve put together a packed agenda which includes expert speakers, networking opportunities and an exciting program of entertainment.

With so many reasons to attend this year, it’s difficult to consider why you wouldn’t want to come along. But in case you were in any doubt, we have put together three reasons why attending this year is a good decision:

1. Network with the experts.It’s not often that experts from so many different sectors are under one roof at the same time. Invited to our event this year are guests from a range of different aerosol businesses, as well as speakers from the fields of consumer behaviour, recycling systems, the circular economy, packaging and technology.
As an association, we recognise the importance for businesses to keep up to speed in a world driven by continual political, technological and environmental developments. As well as opportunities for members to network during the conference period of this event, our drinks reception and dinner platforms are also aimed to provide ALL guests with a relaxed and professional arena where ideas and views can be exchanged and connections made.

2.Wine tasting! If you’ve ever wondered about the art of wine tasting or would like to add to your existing knowledge of this famed fermented grape juice then who better to enlighten you than former BBC 2 Food and Drink series presenter and wine connoisseur, Jilly Goolden?
During the drinks reception, Jilly will be sharing her enthusiasm and knowledge on the crispness, body and aroma of selected wines from around the world. Following the wine tasting there will be a four course meal followed by some surprise entertainment!

3.Industry knowledge and recognition If you are a BAMA member, you are invited to listen to presentations from a range of different speakers who will be sharing their thoughts on the aerosol industry from their own unique viewpoints. The diverse speaker line-up will provide our audience with a wide and informed view of where the aerosol industry is right now and where it will be in the future.
With just a month left until the entry deadline, members are invited to submit their entries to be in the running to win. Winning entries will receive industry recognition, press coverage and vouchers worth up to £500 for winners and £250 for runners-up in each of four categories.

BAMA Forum and Awards Dinner details
The BAMA Forum and Awards Dinner will be held at Oulton Hall, Leeds on the 18th & 19th October with both members and non-members invited to the evening dinner on the 18th. Members can attend the conference and submit award entries also. For further information please contact Amy Falvey or visit the BAMA website to book your place.

When I joined BAMA a year ago I was fortunate enough to inherit a substantial piece of work called the Future of Aerosols 2 project, a follow-up to the original Future of Aerosols 1 project which was completed in 2001. This first programme focused on technical subjects and solutions to see the aerosol industry into the 21st century.

For BAMA, sustainability and especially environmental sustainability has for decades been at the heart of what we do. During the Future of Aerosols 2 project, BAMA worked with Forum for the Future who reinvigorated our own thinking about environmental sustainability and also made recommendations about how companies should work towards a sustainable future within their own business environments. Examples are: persuading companies to consider how social media might impact on aerosol products; or the effect of the skills gaps within the aerosol industry.

BAMA, via its Committees, will be working on a number of Innovation themes to help our industry tackle some key issues including:
• The Circular Economy
• Air Quality – both indoor and outdoor
• Addressing Chemicals of Concern
• Using Aerosols to Meet Human Health Needs
• Harnessing the Power of Social Media
• Creating Flexible and Resilient Supply Chains.
Each of these themes is now developing into work areas for the Committees.

As part of the work-stream of the Future of Aerosols, Forum for the Future consulted widely across industry to understand the factors which our members felt would have an effect on their business in the coming years. These were then developed into Factor Cards which detailed the background of the issues, providing information and data to help people understand the impact of these factors in greater depth.

At workshops, BAMA members studied these factors and decided which were most important to the wider aerosol industry. These were then prioritised and put into an Impact/Uncertainty Matrix. From here the groups could narrow down the themes to those shown above and also run Innovation Sessions to think about how we might bring about solutions to these themes. This Future Thinking process is now available to all BAMA members – free of charge.

The toolkit used by BAMA Members in this study can be downloaded from the Community Area of the BAMA website, along with the report BAMA is working through.

We at BAMA believe this is an excellent opportunity for companies, big and small, to take a step back from their day-to-day business and think about the challenges they might face in the next 10 or 20 years. The Factors used cover such a broad spectrum of subjects the Future Thinking process could be applied in one area of your business, say R&D or manufacturing, or more widely, to review and consider how you want your company to develop and grow in the future.

To help with Future Thinking, BAMA will moderate and facilitate workshops at members companies, also free of charge. All we ask for is a big enough room and a couple of days from a group of your staff to take the process through.

If this is of interest, please contact us and we can discuss helping you to Future Proof your business.

Now in our eighth year, the BAMA Awards always provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase some of the latest innovations within the aerosol industry and highlight many of the UK’s success stories. The Awards Gala Dinner also provides an excellent opportunity for networking within the industry.

This year we have introduced some new categories following feedback from last year’s judging process.

The new categories include:
• New Aerosol of the Year
• Process Safety and Training
• Sustainability
• Aerosol Packaging.

There will also be a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ nominated by the BAMA Executive Committee.

The Awards will be presented on the evening of 19th October 2016 at The Belfry Hotelin Sutton Coldfield. Members and their guests will be entertained by the acclaimed comedian, former policeman and raconteur, Alfie Moore, a popular after-dinner speaker.

Companies engaged in any aspect of the aerosol industry but which are not already members of BAMA, may enter the Awards and apply to attend the Forum and Gala Dinner as long as they have applied for membership and have had their application accepted before 7th September 2016 – which is the closing date for entries. The entry form is now available to download from the BAMA website and is open to all BAMA members at: www.bama.co.uk/forum.

Patrick Heskins, Chief Executive of BAMA, says: “The UK aerosol industry continues to go from strength to strength. The BAMA Awards helps to recognise the hard work and endeavour of the industry in important areas such as Innovation and Sustainability. I look forward to seeing another set of high quality submissions from members.”

In our last blog we talked of the importance of the training which BAMA provides regarding the handling of aerosols.

Training is vital of course. However, having regard to the rules for warehousing and logistics is something that everyone engaged in handling and storage needs to be aware of. This is where BAMA’s thorough guide ‘The Warehousing of Aerosols: A BAMA Guide to Safe Storage’ comes in. Importantly, you should be aware that the 5th edition of this invaluable publication is now available to download from the BAMA site. Members must log in to obtain a FREE copy.

It covers the general requirements for safe storage; regulations; safety issues; control of hazards; and the safe disposal of aerosols.

Dr Paul Jackson, BAMA’s Technical Director, said: “Storage of filled aerosols requires careful consideration because of the risks associated with flammable propellants and liquids in order to avoid warehouse fires. The storage of filled aerosols has been the subject of much study by BAMA. The purpose of our guide is to help maximise safety levels in aerosol warehouses, whether in large or small operations”.

The key changes in this edition of the Guide are amended guidance notes on the COMAH regulations following the changes in 2015 whereby a hazard category – ‘flammable aerosols’ – was introduced. In addition, the Guide contains some new Annexes to highlight the many changes in the regulations, many of which will only affect larger warehouse operators.

The team and I recently attended the Aerosol and Dispensing Forum in Paris and felt a short review may be of interest for those unable to make it this year.

It was a good opportunity to meet several of our member companies who were present there as well as seeing what other companies outside of the UK are up to. The lecture programme provided a good cross section of technical discussions with a less obvious commercial element compared to previous years. The seminars ranged from gasket technology for compressed gasses through bio-sourced materials and on to the latest in testing equipment.
For the can industry, this included seminars on powder coating for mono bloc aluminium cans from PPG, new optical systems for measuring the seams on aerosol cans from Mühlbauer Group, new possibilities for printing steel cans from Colep and the latest developments in leak detection, both during can production and whilst filling, from Wilco.

One of the most interesting developments on cans, for me at least, was hidden away in a far corner of the exhibition halls where Caprosol of Switzerland and Canada http://rxreviewz.com/canadadrugs-com/ was showing prototype samples of laser welded cans which do away with traditional seamed three piece tinplate cans. They claim up to a 30% reduction in material used which, if true, is a significant step forward for steel cans. The cans also look quite different to traditional three piece steel cans: more similar to a straight sided aluminium can. I will be very interested to see how this technology develops.

The last afternoon was dedicated to the latest ‘hot topic’ for the aerosol industry, plastic cans. The main issue for plastic aerosols is size restrictions within the Aerosol Dispenser Directive (ADD) and industry is working with FEA and an external consultant to try and amend the ADD to allow larger plastic aerosols on to the market whilst maintaining the high safety standards of the industry.

The wheels of the regulatory process do not always move at the speed industry would like but I am hopeful that the Plastic Aerosol Independent Review (PAIR) project will allow the aerosol industry to explore and develop this technology and further expand the range of products offered to our consumers.

As we at BAMA gear up to plan the launch of the 2016 BAMA Awards, we now look forward to see what exciting innovations and other developments the UK industry has in wait for us.

We were reading a community news feed1 that hit our desks the other day and it stopped us in our tracks.

Even though aerosol cans are easily recyclable – and 90% of people in Australia could recycle them, it seems around two thirds (66%) of Australians aren't sure what to do with them. The figure came up in a recycling report by Planet Ark and was reported by our counterpart organisation, the Aerosol Association of Australia (AAA).

Here in Britain, we often think of Australians as being steps ahead of us when it comes to recycling and sustainability.

Yet despite the good work of the AAA, aerosol cans seem to cause confusion with just one third (33%) of people in Oz correctly identifying them as recyclable; 54% incorrectly say they aren't recyclable; and a further 12% say they aren't sure. With Australians using a staggering 250 million aerosols every year, this means an enormous amount of recyclable high quality steel and aluminium is ending up in landfill.

It just acted as a reminder of how far we in the UK have come. Thanks to campaigns by BAMA such as our ‘Can Do’ Awards for local authorities, along with programmes such as the Alupro campaign, supported by BAMA and others, the majority of councils collect empty aerosols from the kerbside and most consumers know they can recycle them.

It’s salutary to remember that in 2001 just 7% of councils recycled empty aerosols; by 2009, 75% recycled; and by 2014 – over 90% recycled. This means that the 30000 tonnes of reclaimable high-grade metal waste produced via the 600 million aerosols or so used in the UK each year gets reused, not sent to landfill.

The latest research we conducted showed that the overwhelming majority of Brits know they can and should recycle aerosols and that, most importantly, most do. Of those who buy aerosols in the UK, 73% are recycling them.

We in the UK should be proud of this achievement. We’re never complacent; we know you don’t have to be bad to get better. However, we think it’s important sometimes to look back on how far we’ve come – and in the case of recycling aerosols, it’s a very long way indeed.

BAMA (the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association), is to hold its annual Forum on 15-16 October 2015. The event will again take place at The Belfry Hotel in Sutton Coldfield. The results of the BAMA Awards will also be announced at a gala dinner to be held on 15th October. Both the event and the Awards are open to all BAMA members.

Now in their seventh year, the BAMA Awards recognise and promote the high standards in the UK aerosol industry and are a valuable way of promoting businesses and so all BAMA members who have launched new products or other innovations are encouraged to enrol entries.This year, entertainment will be provided by Dominic Holland (pictured) who has been invited as the guest comedian at this year’s dinner. One of the country’s most highly regarded comedians, Dominic has enjoyed success as both a stand-up comedian and a writer and is often seen as a panellist on shows including Five's The Wright Stuff, Have I Got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Dominic has written for the late Bob Monkhouse, Harry Enfield, Lenny Henry and Clive Anderson, as well as being the author of three novels including the critically acclaimed Only In America.
There will be rewards for BAMA members who enter the Awards and prizes worth a total of £3000 for the companies which are picked as winners or runners-up in two of the Awards’ categories.

Companies engaged in any aspect of the aerosol industry but which are not already members of BAMA, may enter the Awards and attend the Forum and gala dinner as long as they have applied for membership and have their application accepted before 7th September, which is the closing date for Awards entries. Entry forms will be available on the BAMA website shortly.

The Members' rate to attend the two-day event is £199 + VAT which includes lunch, the seminars, the Awards Dinner plus accommodation for one night and breakfast. Non-members may not attend the seminars although BAMA welcomes members to invite guests to the Awards Dinner.

If you are not yet a member and believe your company is eligible for membership contact: amyfalvey@bama.co.uk.

If you work in the education business you are constantly bombarded by messages from industry, universities and government about the shortage of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Dozens of websites and schemes are set up to try to solve the problem. None of them do any harm and many are excellent, but all too often they are schemes that will run for a while and then fade away.

The fact is that teachers need to be informed about how science is applied in the real world. I run the website www.schoolscience.co.uk and Twitter account @schoolscience that does just this. We channel scientific news to schools and create original learning resources. Much of science can be dry theory. Our aim is to show how the theory is applied.

When I was asked by BAMA to create teaching resources about aerosols, I jumped at the chance to show how that ubiquitous little can explains a lot of basic science. The index page is here http://www.schoolscience.co.uk/aerosolsindex
To gather the information required took many discusssions with the experts at BAMA and several visits to aerosol companies where I managed to grasp most of the technology. I learned that aerosols look simple and they are simple. The hard part is making billions of them cheaply. Getting into those companies was arranged by BAMA and was crucial to the project. No matter how much internet research you do, there is no substitute for seeing the processes and talking to employees. Some of those employees are featured in the resource.

The resource has to match the science curriculum, so the main issues are vapour pressure, ideal gas pressure, the pressure law, Boyle’s Law and resistance welding. There is a simple treatment of droplet size. Wherever possible, clear pictures and videos have been used. There are question pages and help with pressure units.

The web pages are created in a way that makes the resource editable, so if you have better pictures, more process detail, or any ideas for improving the resource, please get in touch with BAMA and we can look at editing the resource to include them. Comments on the resource are welcome too.

And finally… a story.
Once upon a time I was in Leeds city centre when a new construction project was creating pile foundations. The biggest pile drill I have ever seen was just starting up. Two teenage girls walked past the site entrance. One was awestruck at this massive machine and tried to get her friend to look. Her friend was impatient to get on and never gave the machine a glance. I watched them walk on and wondered if the awestruck girl would study civil engineering, get a £45k starting salary and travel the world.

We can never interest everyone in science and engineering, but giving them access to information at least gives everyone a chance.

BAMA is ‘on course’ to improve training in the industry. Only a month into 2015, we are holding three events to help improve knowledge in the industry. One of BAMA’s key strengths, many members say, is its attention to safety and training. Because our members and potential members are all over the UK, one of the initiatives that we’ve been pursuing is a programme of regional workshops.

In February there are two new courses launching. One is on testing and classification for the Aerosol Dispensers Directive (ADD) and the other on the labelling of aerosols.
Testing and Classification of Aerosols for the ADD – 24th February 2015 is a one day course to train regulatory specialists in how to deal with the classification and safety assessments based on the Aerosol Dispensers Directive.

The Labelling of Aerosols – 25th February 2015 will train regulatory specialists in how to label aerosols, looking at the evidence to conclude what is good and bad labelling. The one-day workshop will include process exercises.

If you are responsible for the classification and labelling of aerosols or for advising customers it’s a good idea to attend. Both these courses will be held at BAMA's headquarters in Stevenage and open to members and non-members.

For costs and to book for the events mentioned here, visit our courses page. Please note the Regional Seminar which was due to take place on the 12th February has been cancelled.

We have just completed a major study undertaken in conjunction with Forum for the Future.

This was a follow up to a similar exercise undertaken in 2001. The Future of Aerosols 2, which has just been completed, has resulted in a practical ‘toolkit’ for sustainability to be used by our member companies in further developing their own future plans and predictions.

The process has involved http://cialisvsviagracomparison.com/ interviews and workshops with around 100 people from within the aerosol industry as well as from allied organisations and individuals.

Industry experts were asked to look back over the past decade or more and also to consider the coming 20-25 years, reviewing social trends, technological changes, economic trends and political factors. The process also asked participants to review both threats and opportunities in the coming years and to consider innovations and predictions.

Sessions have been held to introduce training skills to those who will be facilitating company workshops within their own business.

The 'toolkit' includes worksheets and topic prompts, covering factors that have been identified through the process. Member companies are invited to use these materials to help shape their businesses in to the future and BAMA will help to facilitate workshops, in house, at member offices.

Zoe Le Grand, Senior Sustainability Advisor of Forum for the Future, who led the training workshops said: “The aerosol industry has had to innovate its products in the face of environmental pressures in the past. The Future of Aerosols 2 project helped the BAMA membership to look broadly at a range of social, environmental and economic trends which could affect the industry in the long term and proactively identify responses to them.”

We welcome this kind of future thinking as we believe it offers a huge benefit to our members. It takes us beyond just the day-to-day challenges and helps establish what is truly important and not just what is urgent today, an important part of our role as a Trade Association.